Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1514628
JANUARY 2024 I PCB007 MAGAZINE 47 machine suppliers are family-owned compa- nies in Europe. Still, there are opportunities. With the right culture and the right story, we'll bring people on a new journey of building again in the United States. Maybe it will be building the connectiv- ity between things or building some of these automation systems. Maybe it will be trying to establish the Six Sigma process again, because, in the United States, we've been pretty dis- missive of ever achieving that. We've become product-focused instead of process-focused. With the right story and motivation, engi- neers can create an ecosystem that feeds off each other. How do we get that going? One way is through "coopera-tition," because one company in and of itself is not enough to feed that. We have to create the envi- ronment. I am really looking forward to seeing something along those lines. Operational effectiveness is where you have to start. It is not your business strategy; it's your foun- dation. Part of that is the digital fac- tory and benchmarking process to become a digital factory so you can have digital twin. How far along are you on that? We've put effort toward that, but it's a process. It is extremely important, because of the com- plexity of manufacturing, to be able to tell our customers when they will receive their prod- ucts and actually hit those commitments. As I look at benchmarking and digital goods, and as you're talking about sensors, does having a digital twin of your entire manufac- turing process give you predictive engineer- ing to eliminate the problems before they occur? Yes, it does. at's the balance, just like with automation. Where's the right investment for the right kinds of returns? You could put a tempera- ture and process pressure sensor on everything and say, "I've got everything online and it looks great." But you just spent $5 million and what did you get for it? ere's a lack of education. And a lack of skill, honestly, that can help implement these changes. But getting the builders of the world to do it now? You know that those kinds of skill sets are more ubiquitous. You don't have to hire a PCB engineer to do it, because you can use an Arduino to do Internet of ings. You can set it up. It's almost like hiring a coder. Yes, every engineer should know how to code. It's like knowing a foreign language. I heard one AI thought leader propose that, in the future, every position title should be added onto, including the words "and Automation Man- ager." Everyone in every posi- tion should be charged as part of their job responsibilities to automate out their jobs. ose are the people that will be useful in the future, and automation doesn't have to mean robots. ere are many free tools to take advantage of to drive your cost efficiency and communicate with your customers better. Everyone has the ability to be creative. It's a muscle that you have to exercise and be encour- aged to use. I tell my team that every time I push them hard on process, it's okay to fail. If you're not failing, you're not advancing or you're not advancing fast enough. ere's too much risk aversion today. We have to make sure we don't make a bad board, but on the process side of things, you have to play, which really engages that creativity muscle part of your brain. I think that's a great place to end this. Thank you, Sean, for spending your time with us. ank you, Barry. PCB007 Yes, every engineer should know how to code.